Lemony Kale Chickpea Avocado Salad

Lemony Kale Chickpea Avocado Salad. is a kale salad recipe made with avocado, canned chickpeas, and a lemony olive oil vinaigrette. This is where nutrition, flavor, and texture all meet up, dance on your taste buds, and remind you that eating healthy really rocks!

Lemony Kale Chickpea Avocado Salad

Oh, how I love a good kale salad recipe…let me list the ways:

Gluten-free, vegetarian, dairy-free, and no added sugars

15-minutes…couldn’t be easier to assemble

Uses common ingredients found in most grocery stores…and pantries

NO cooking required

Loaded with nutritious ingredients

Zingy flavors…combined with soft and crunchy textures. Boom!

This salad recipe is crazy-easy and can be thrown together just before serving, or a few days in advance.

It’s a great side dish during dinner, or pack it into your weekday lunch.

Kale salad recipe steps (massaged kale salad):

1. whisk together vinaigrette ingredients in a bowl

2. pour over kale and massage thoroughly with the dressing (DO NOT skip this step or you’ll have dry kale, which kinda sucks)

Comments

I'd like to make this in advance for lunches. Do you suggest I wait to put the dressing on? I'd prefer to put it on the night before so I don't have to make a mess massaging the kale at work. Let me know what you think!

Hi Kristen, thanks for asking. You can massage the kale with the dressing the night before..no prob. You might want to wait to cut the avocado on the day you're eating the salad to prevent browning. The dressing does have plenty of lemon though, which should help keep the avocado from browning. Hope that helps, and hope you love the salad like I do :)

Love the recipe and pics. I make a massaged kale salad, but let the flavors meld together for a few hours before eating. I find the kale is easier to chew. I pinned this and will be trying it your way down the road.

Hi Joanne, thanks for asking. It's very possible it may turn brown, but there is a lot of lemon in it, which should slow it down. I'm not quite sure if that prevents it entirely...esp over a couple days. Looks like some testing is in order. I'll have to include that in the recipe notes next time I make it :)

I love every ingredient in this, but I did not love the salad. I’m not sure why, but the kale was very tough. I did remove the tough stems and did massage in the dressing. I even left in the refrigerator for a few hours hoping it would wilt a little. If anyone has any suggestions I will happily try it again.

Well darn JM...not sure what could have gone south for you. It might be that you didn't massage it enough. You have to really beat it up with your hands to get it to soften...like, to the point of it feeling unnatural LOL. It might also be that kale, even when softened, isn't your preferred texture for salad greens. Hope this helps...let me know if you have more questions or decide to try it again :)

I have only ever made this with dino kale and we really like it. I actually crave it at times. That being said I am not the biggest kale fan so the discovery of the dino kale was revolutionary to me as it seems less bitter. When I first found this recipe here it called for 2 cups of sliced dino kale. I see it has been adjusted a little, but I have never tried the way it is listed now.

Thanks for weighing in, DK :) I'm with you on the dino kale...it's just so much easier to get used to when you're starting out. You're right that the recipe has been adjusted. It's mostly because, once massaged, the kale shrinks down so much that it felt more like an avocado salad with a few strands of kale LOL, so I adjusted it. Always up to the person making it though :)

I have made this salad many times. It is my favorite salad ever. I think I could live on it. Sometimes we add walnuts. My girls love this salad also. This is a perfect salad. All things we love. I am so grateful for the recipe. Thank you or sharing.

Hi Shannon, to make 1 serving, I'd whisk together 1 Tbsp Olive Oil and 1-2 teaspoons Lemon Juice and of course only use a pinch of fresh garlic, salt, and pepper. You can even use less oil if you prefer, these are just suggested amounts. Hope that helps...enjoy!

Tried this salad last night....it was to die for! I added a teensy bit of feta and upped it on the garlic. Man was it good. Curious if you have the nutrition facts on this? Want to add this to my FitBit tracker :)

Eva...yes!!! So happy to hear you love it like it do! Feta (YUM!) would be killer in this! And I've added walnuts too. As for nutrition, I haven't found my favorite source to post on the site, but lately I'm checking out https://happyforks.com/analyzer. Just copy and paste the ingredients into their form field and it generates info. I use it as general reference, but would consult the pros if I had very specific goals. Hope that helps :-) Thanks so much for your feedback!

Just wanted to let you know that I have made this salad countless times and it is so delicious, I usually add more kale than is called for, but I love this salad--It was my go to meal when I first started out as a vegan.

Hiya Kimberly, I'm so happy to hear this. Funny enough, I made the recipe a few weeks ago and ended up adding several cups of kale to it...because kale LOL. So, don't be surprised when I edit the recipe here on the site. Also, makes my month to know this salad got you through the transition to vegan. SO cool! Thanks for letting me know :-)

This looks absolutely delicious!!! I cannot wait to try it! I think my kids and husband will love it too. I've been looking for salads exactly like this that are nutritious and delicious for our lunches. This will fit the bill perfectly- thank you!

Hey Margo, yeah sunflower seeds...great addition! Pistachios get a little spendy, so that's a great substitution. As for sundried tomatoes (one of my fav ingredients)...I'm a little biased. I think yeah, and I think fresh tomatoes might even be better, but only during tomato season :-) Hey, thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment. Love to hear you again anytime!

I just made this for the 2nd time in 2 days and it is A-MAY-ZING!!!! I added leftover quinoa and used toasted pine nuts because I did not have pistachios. OMG!!!! So good, it's all gone now and I can't stop thinking about it. So easy to make and so delicious, even my three year old had a bowl!

Omgosh Ali...you just made my week!...my month! Your enthusiasm is so contagious :-) I do hope you're signed up to receive my recipe updates, because I don't want you to miss any opportunities to be this happy. Thank you sooooo much for taking the time to leave this best-ever comment. Cheers!

Hello Violet, I sure hope his doctor was very specific about what foods are considered processed and which ones to avoid. I also hope you can find recipes in my collection to match your family's needs. Let me know if you ever have any questions :-)

Hey there Sonia! Thanks for taking the time to show your love...made my day. Funny you forgot the stachies because I originally wrote the recipe w/o them. You must have known ;-)Happy Sunday to you...and thanks again!

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